Proposition of merger will be discussed in a series of public hearings scheduled to start this week

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Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Maryland where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break to new mutiny...

The proposed merger of the University of Maryland College Park and Baltimore campuses is the center of an emerging drama, featuring Baltimore campus and city leaders and Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller.

Senator Miller advanced the idea of a merger and successfully pushed for legislation requiring the U of Md. Board of Regents to study the issue, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Critics finger Miller -- who represents Prince George's County -- as a biased proponent of the interests of the University of Maryland, College Park, the University of Maryland's flagship campus that some fear will absorb the smaller Baltimore campus.

Concerns over how the merger will impact local autonomy (UMB is a major Baltimore city employer) have been raised by civic leaders and worries about the financial cost of the merger seem to be present across the board.

Miller says the combined university would become one of the country's most prestigious. The joining of College Park's vast number of graduate and undergraduate programs with UMB's renowned schools of law and medicine and health-related research programs could result in a super-campus of sorts.

The University System of Maryland is holding public hearings on the issue and will submit a report to the General Assembly in December. The first in the series of hearings took place Friday afternoon at UMB and the next will take place on October 28 in College Park. You can watch the hearings here as footage becomes available.